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Developed by two of the subject’s leading experts, the First Edition of State Constitutional Law: Cases and Principles provides a contemporary, authoritative treatment of the field, complete with majority approaches and alternatives across the country. The book provides detailed treatments of the wide range of state constitutional issues—not only rights, but also government structure, democracy, fiscal provisions, and intrastate relations.

Every 10 years, following the federal census, states are required to redraw their congressional and legislative district maps. In the majority of states, the duty to redistrict rests with the state legislature. Because line-drawing decisions can have significant electoral consequences, the redistricting process is often highly contentious. An especially prominent concern is with partisan gerrymandering—that is, the adoption of maps that unduly advantage one political party over another. This report assesses the rise of state court litigation as one important tool for curbing partisan gerrymandering and provides a state-by-state analysis of the viability of state partisan gerrymandering claims.

The North Carolina Supreme Court had an eventful 2023. Its recent decisions reflect changes in the court’s view of its own role, its relationship with the other branches of government, and its view of the state’s constitution. Most prominently, the court reversed course in two of its high-profile 2022 cases: Harper v. Hall and Holmes v. Moore, addressing elections and voting rights. This Report recaps the North Carolina Supreme Court’s major 2023 democracy decisions and previews significant cases that the court is likely to hear in 2024.

In a challenge to the map adopted by the court in Johnson v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, the State Democracy Research Initiative filed an amicus brief arguing that adoption of those maps violates separation of powers by failing to remedy a redistricting failure and misallocating authority between the legislature and the governor. In 2023, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that the maps violated the constitution's contiguity requirement and asserted that it should seek partisan neutrality when selecting maps to remedy violations of other constitutional provisions. The legislature and governor subsequently reached a deal to enact new legally compliant maps.

In a challenge to Kentucky's state legislative and congressional redistricting maps, the State Democracy Research Initiative filed an amicus brief on behalf of Professor Joshua A. Douglas arguing that partisan gerrymandering violates the Kentucky Constitution's Free and Equal Elections Clause. In 2023, the Kentucky Supreme Court held that, although partisan gerrymandering claims are justiciable under the state constitution, neither of the challenged maps rose to the level of an impermissible partisan gerrymander.

Civic organizations and voters challenged Utah's congressional redistricting map, arguing that the maps were the result of a partisan gerrymander. The State Democracy Research Initiative filed an amicus brief on behalf of Professor Bertrall L. Ross II arguing that partisan gerrymandering is inconsistent with the history of Utah’s Free Elections Clause and the underlying structural principles of the Utah Constitution. In 2024, the Utah Supreme Court held that the legislature may have violated the constitution by repealing a citizen-initiated statute prohibiting partisan gerrymandering.

Wisconsin’s 2023 state supreme court race has drawn attention in part because of its potential to reshape another branch of state government: the legislature.

North Carolina spent much of the year in the national legal spotlight due to Moore v. Harper, the prominent U.S. Supreme Court case that could limit the authority of state courts and state constitutions over federal elections through the controversial “independent state legislature theory.”

In a case challenging state courts' and constitutions' ability to constrain state legislatures on matters relating to federal elections, the State Democracy Research Initiative filed an amicus brief arguing that the U.S. Constitution's Elections Clause does not exempt legislatures from state constitutional constraints. On June 27, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the independent state legislature theory and held that state lawmakers legislating issues related to federal elections are still subject to state judicial review and the constraints of state constitutions.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court term that ended in July will leave a lasting imprint on the state’s democratic system. This recap of the court’s 2021-22 term highlights four of the court’s most consequential cases—two involving elections and two involving the scope and balance of governmental powers.